Lars Eidinger To Play Brainiac In James Gunn's Superman Sequel Man Of Tomorrow
"Superman" director James Gunn has officially revealed that German actor Lars Eidinger will be playing Brainiac in the upcoming sequel, "Man of Tomorrow." In a post on Instagram, Gunn wrote that the casting follows a "worldwide search" in which Eidinger "rose to the top."
Plot details largely remain under wraps, but it had previously been confirmed that Brainiac will be the villain. David Corenswet will return as Clark Kent/Superman, with Nicholas Hoult reprising his role as Lex Luthor. Production is expected to begin in early 2026, with a summer 2027 release date already on the books. Warner Bros. is wasting no time.
In English-speaking countries Eidinger is best known for his roles in 2016 thriller "Personal Shopper" and Netflix's World War II drama miniseries "All the Light We Cannot See." He also played a minor antagonist in Tim Burton's live-action adaptation of "Dumbo." But while he has a well-established career in Germany, Eidinger will be a fresh face to many North American moviegoers, which makes this an exciting and unexpected casting choice.
"Superman" was the first major project in the new DC Universe following the animated "Creature Commandos." Gunn and his DC Studios co-head Peter Safran are fully rebooting DC with a new shared universe. "Superman" was a big success, making nearly $620 million at the box office, prompting WB to move forward with not only a sequel, but several other projects that had been in the works.
Where you might have seen Lars Eidinger before
DC fans who want a peek at Lars Eidinger's villain chops might want to check out "All the Light We Cannot See," in which he plays the main baddie, Reinhold von Rumpel (pictured above). Though, given that the miniseries was widely panned, you may want to focus elsewhere in his body of work. Time critic Judy Berman highlighted Eidinger in her review as "a wonderfully weird German actor" who "feels wasted in the Christoph-Waltz-lite role of a pithy, cutthroat Nazi." James Gunn movies tend to be a very welcoming place for wonderfully weird actors (including Eidinger's fellow German, Flula Borg, who played Javelin in "The Suicide Squad"), so hopefully "Man of Tomorrow" will give Eidinger more of a chance to shine.
If his face looks familiar you may also know him from Olivier Assayas' 2014 film "The Clouds of Sils Maria," or from the critically-acclaimed German neo-noir series "Babylon Berlin," the first three seasons of which streamed on Netflix. The show has since been removed from the streamer, but you can watch seasons 1-4 on MHz Choice. Still streaming on Netflix is Noah Baumbach's 2022 film "White Noise," in which Eidinger plays a mysterious but pivotal role.
Eidinger will make his debut as Brainiac when "Man of Tomorrow" lands in theaters on July 9, 2027.